Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Northampton Hammer Pretoria Bulls

George Hendy bagged a triple as Northampton secured maximum points from their first two European games with an eight-try hammering of the Bulls.

Sleightholme crossed twice and Pollock secured the bonus point try before the hour mark as a commanding Northampton side ran riot in the second half.

The Bulls were within touching distance with the score fourteen-five at the break but a sin-binning to prop Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a unnecessary trip proved very costly and they failed to register a point in the final forty minutes.

England fly-half Smith contributed 10 points from the tee as Northampton went top of Pool Four on superior points difference from defending champions Bordeaux with the two teams on 10 points.

The manner of this win, coming after a 35-27 victory on the road at Pau last week, means last season's runners-up Saints could not have hoped for a more ideal beginning as they look to improve on that this season.

Bulls fly-half Wolhuter failed with an early shot at goal before the hosts took the lead when Pollock broke before passing to Sleightholme who showed his pace to sprint away to the try line.

But an error from Sleightholme allowed the Bulls back into the game as the ball was knocked on in the tackle, allowing Pretoria winger Jacobs to kick on and show blistering pace of his own to score after 22 minutes.

Ten minutes later, Saints had their second as fast passing from Mitchell at the ruck base and then Smith put George Hendy over to make it 14-5 at the half-time whistle.

Northampton were dominant in possession and territory and were being aided from the opposition fly-half Wolhuter who twice missed touch with penalty kicks to bring the pressure back on the visitors.

That proved decisive after 48 minutes when Smith was again the architect, stepping inside to wrong-foot the advancing defence before sending a sweet left-footed kick over the line for George Hendy to grab his second try and Saints' third score.

Bulls prop Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a tripping offense on Emmanuel Iyogun. The prop was adamant he had been responding to a trip momentarily before by Iyogun but the contact from the Saints replacement prop was ruled accidental when reviewed by the match officials.

Saints seized the opportunity of having the extra man to secure the bonus point through Pollock before Coles and Ollie Sleightholme crossed as the home team notched three scores in five minutes.

George Hendy completed his hat-trick with twelve minutes left on the clock and Josh Kemeny walked over for the eighth and final try of an excellent day for Saints in the dying moments.

Rematch of Last Year's Final Next for Saints

The top two teams in the pool will face off in a rematch of the previous season's final when the Investec Champions Cup returns in January as Saints head to Bordeaux. Northampton then conclude the pool stage with a fixture at home against Scarlets on January 18th.

The Bulls, who have one point from two matches, welcome Bristol Bears in their next outing before traveling to face Pau.

Line-ups

Northampton: Furbank; Sleightholme, Hutchinson, Dingwall, Hendy; F Smith, Mitchell; Fischetti, Wright, Davison, Coles, Van der Mescht, Kemeny, Pearson, Pollock

Replacements: R Smith, Iyogun, Kundiona, Munga, Prowse, Graham, James, Thame

Bulls: Williams; Petersen, Gans, Vorster, Jacobs; Wolhuter, Burger; Tshakweni, Van der Merwe, Smith, Wiese, Van Heerden, Coetzee, Ludwig, Louw

Replacements: Else, Sithole, Mchunu, Gumede, Carr, Papier, Johannes, Van Niekerk

Yellow card: Tshakweni (53)

Match Officials

Referee: Hollie Davidson (Sco)

Assistant referees: Rob McDowell (Sco) and Dave Sutherland (Sco)

TMO: Mike Adamson (Sco)